RI-Taiwan trade could reach $4b this year

JAKARTA (JP): Trade between Taiwan and Indonesia is set to exceed US$4 billion this year, says Lu Pao-sun, head of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office here.

On the eve of Taiwan's Double-Ten (National Day) celebrations today, Lu said that his country was Indonesia's sixth-largest trading partner last year with two-way trade amounting to $3.5 billion.

He added that the balance of trade between the two countries was in Indonesia's favor.

According to Lu's estimates, this year's two-way trade between the two countries will reach more than $4 billion.

As of July, Taiwan was Indonesia's fifth-largest foreign investor, with 371 projects worth of $8.056 billion, Lu added in referring to another aspect of the bilateral economic ties.

He estimated that Indonesia received more than half a million Taiwanese visitors in 1994, up more than 40 percent from the previous year.

Lu said that Taiwan and Indonesia had made great strides in developing mutually-beneficial relations. He cited the fact that, in March, Taiwan's China Airlines, in cooperation with Garuda, began an all-cargo non-stop once-a-week service between Taipei and Jakarta.

He added that, in June, Taiwan's EVA Airways launched its first Taipei-Kaohsiung-Surabaya flight, with a Boeing 767 carrying 266 passengers.

Eva now has three flights per week. Putting together the services now provided by Garuda, Sempati, EVA Air and China Airlines, there are 23 Jakarta-Taipei and Taipei-Jakarta flights, four Denpasar-Taipei and Taipei-Denpasar flights and two Denpasar-Kaohsiung and Kaohsiung-Denpasar flights each week.

Last Thursday, another privately-run airline company in Taiwan, TransAsia Airways, launched a commercial service between Taipei and Surabaya three times a week; on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

TransAsia will serve the route with a 162-seat Airbus A320.

"More flights signify more contacts and greater business opportunities. We have reasons to believe the constructive partnership between the two countries shall become much more comprehensive in the years to come," he said.

Asked about the performance of Taiwan's economy, Lu said that the country's foreign trade reached $178.5 billion last year, making it the world's 14th-largest trading power.

"Our gross national product (GNP) of US$244 billion is the 19th-largest in the world and our per-capita GNP of US$11,604 is the world's 25th-highest," he said.

Lu added that Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves of over $100 billion were second only to Japan.

Of the greatest significance, Lu said, is the fact that Taiwan has grown from an agricultural exporting economy into a leading producer of electronic, computer and other industrial goods. For example, Taiwan is now the world's biggest producer of note-book computers, he said.(vin)